sn6.12

Evaṁ me sutaṁ—

ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati gijjhakūṭe pabbate acirapakkante devadatte.

Atha kho brahmā sahampati abhikkantāya rattiyā abhikkantavaṇṇo kevalakappaṁ gijjhakūṭaṁ pabbataṁ obhāsetvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ aṭṭhāsi.

Ekamantaṁ ṭhito kho brahmā sahampati devadattaṁ ārabbha bhagavato santike imaṁ gāthaṁ abhāsi:

“Phalaṁ ve kadaliṁ hanti,

phalaṁ veḷuṁ phalaṁ naḷaṁ;

Sakkāro kāpurisaṁ hanti,

gabbho assatariṁ yathā”ti.

So I have heard.

At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain, not long after Devadatta had left.

Then, late at night, the glorious divinity Sahampati, lighting up the entire Vulture’s Peak, went up to the Buddha, bowed, stood to one side,

and spoke this verse in the Buddha’s presence:

“The banana plant is destroyed by its own fruit,

as are the bamboo and the reed.

Honor destroys a reprobate,

as pregnancy destroys a mule.”